Mary the Mute
Mary the Mute, also known as Mary Dacre, was the bastard child of King Alric Dacre of Avalot. She was most famous for personally ending the Ninth Barbarian Invasion and all future invasions thanks to her marriage to Hysaph Jaric. Many of the commoners of Avo see her as a hero and honor her, even after her death. Background Mary was born to an unknown servant girl whom had been chosen by King Alric Dacre to bare his heir in 640 AU. From her birth, Mary was born a Mute and could not make a single sound with her throat. Despite this defect, Alric loved his child and sought to protect her from the wrath his wife, Beatrice Dacre. He gave her up to be raised by his most trusted servant, Captain Gunter Newgate, whom would take her up as a single father. Under Newgate's parentage, Mary was faced with a strict upbringing. Newgate was not a loving father and would often expect her to perform rigorous physical tasks similar to that of soldier's training, though she never was a strong girl she knew how to defend herself. On occasion, her true father King Alric would take her in private to his study and teach her other things as well, such as history and heritage. She was made aware that she was the King's child during this time. In 652 AU she was introduced to Count Lance Wymund during one of the King's many masquerade parties. She was instantly smitten by the older man, and the two would secretly communicate with each other. History Mary's relation to Alric was brought to light to the Court of Nobles after Alric's murder in 655 AU. Being the only one seen alone with Alric, Mary was the only suspect for his death and was instantly tortured and imprisoned. Her stay in prison was short lived after Newgate and Wymund both worked together to break her out and move her into hiding. She would remain hidden, going along with their plan to bring her forward as Alric's heir. Even after Wymund was supposedly poisoned, she remained determined in his beliefs and vowed to become the next leader of Avalot. After a long mission to prove her claim, Mary was eventually involved in a great fire that burned all of the lower district and barely escaped with her life. Rescued by the thought dead Count Wymund, she awoke to the sights of all the commoners in Avo preparing to rebel against Castle Dacre. Mary found herself leading the crowd to the palace, finding in her a courage and skills of leadership she did not have before. After many deaths, including the explosion of Castle Dacre, Mary again was forced into the role of leadership as she demanded the commoners help keep up the ruins. She remained as acting leader during the next few months in Avo as the nobles slowly returned to the city, during which she succeeded in re-establishing the Court of Nobles and reconstructing Castle Dacre. When the nobles finally did all return to the capital, they couldn't ignore Mary's followers, as she had become a sort of paragon among the commoners. They were forced to make her a Lady of Avo and give her a place in Court. It was Mary that suggested the removal of the monarchy in favor of a more democratic system with a Prime Minister instead. Mary ran for the first election in 656 AU but lost the popular and noble vote, as many people were too scared by all her changes. Fracturing By 658 AU, Mary was in direct competition with the current Prime Minister, Kenneth Deshotel, for his position in the upcoming election. While she now held the entire popular vote, Deshotel had all of the noble's votes, meaning he would be favored to win by default in the case of a tie. Mary was forced to win over an unexpected newcomer to the Court from Pokol. When that failed, she and Deshotel planned a visit to the island nation in hopes of convincing the local baroness, Anneliese Gross, to lend them her vote in Court. It was there that Mary discovered a plot by the Midnight Hands to destroy Avo in preparation for the Ninth Barbarians Invasion. She and Deshotel both barely escaped with their lives, losing many of their servants and causing Pokol to fall into chaos. Upon their return to Avalot, they discovered that the Pinelands and the Sea of Sands had both declared war on each other due to famine and plague, in addition to Hysaph Jaric conquering all of Berma in a matter of days. Realizing the danger the barbarians posed, Deshotel abandoned his competition with Mary and took her under his wing to teach her the basics of leadership and politics. While she trained, Mary began to grow closer to her bodyguard, Arthur Mourne. The two would spend the summer together, and it was thanks to Arthur's help that they were able to avoid an assassination attempt on Mary and Deshotel's life by the Midnight Hands, who had been hunting the two since Pokol. The Last Barbarian War In the winter of 659 AU, after surviving another attempt on her life, Mary was forced to flee the city of Avo after it fell under siege by the Westwardens. Aided by her companions, Arthur, Grit Maynard, and Jop Carnell, Mary traveled to Blackport to bring King Vane Drago a cure for Tree Fever that Deshotel had crafted. After some conflict, she managed to win the King over to her side and then moved to meet with Anfroy of the Sands to end the bitter war between the two nations. Again, after some misadventures, she succeeded and joined both country's armies in a brief celebration before moving on to Briggham to free Farqual from Westwarden occupation. However, during this party, Mary and Arthur drunkenly made love and conceived a child. Before arriving at Briggham, Mary joined with Gunter Newgate and his army, whom had been attempting to break the siege at Avo but moved to offer their aid to Mary in freeing Farqual and gaining another valuable ally. Disaster struck at Briggham as the Midnight Hands successfully intervened and captured Arthur before forcing Mary and her army to retreat. Worse, in an attempt to buy her time, Newgate sacrificed himself in a blaze of glory and a keg of gunpowder, preventing the barbarian conquerors from giving chase. Mary returned to the war camp surrounding Avo only to discover that King Vane had abandoned their cause. In an act of desperation, Mary split their forces into two, sending the smaller half to claim the capital city from within, then held by agents of the Midnight Hands, while she led an attack through the superior barbarian numbers herself. Though suffering heavy losses, Mary's tactic worked and they succeeded in earning a stronger position against the Westward horde. Realizing that a continued war would last years, considering Avo's continued defense and great technological boost, Hysaph Jaric personally opted to parlay with Mary. In the summer of 659 AU, peace was had between the two forces in exchange for Mary's marriage to Jaric and the surrendering of Berma. She also briefly met with Jamie Narvineous during Deshotel's funneral in Whiteport. Years of Peace With her new position of Hysaphress, Mary worked with Deshotel's replacement, Argus Verze, to tie the bonds between the Eastern Territories and Westward. In 660 AU, she gave birth to a boy that she named Arthur Dacre in honor of his true father whom had vanished after the freedom of Avo. Though Jaric was aware of his "son's" true heritage, he did not expose him out of the fear that it might break their delicate union between their nations. With Mary's help, Westward saw an age of renewal and change, bringing centuries of missed history and technology to the forefront of the nation. Mary was also able to meet with her long lost companion Arthur shortly before the birth of her second child. Unfortunately tragedy struck when Mary gave birth to her daughter, Sigrid. The babe had been too large and Mary passed away in 665 AU. Legacy Mary's death left a gaping void between Westward and the Eastern Territories. Without a spokesperson, Westward resorted to closing in on itself to handle some rising internal affairs. Mary's loss was honored by nearly everyone in the world, who saw her as a figure of peace. Prime Minister Verze strove to have her remembered and even commissioned a statue for her in Avo. There were few who missed her so much as her two Arthurs, her son and former lover. Arthur senior made a vow on her deathbed that he would always protect her children and worked with her husband Jaric to eliminate enemies of their family. She was compared to Amerra for her kindness. Personality Kind and curious were the words that most described Mary the Mute. Even as a child, she had an affinity for learning as much as possible. Famously, she learned how to read and write in a matter of weeks. Mary had a strong connection to commoners, being raised as one despite her royal heritage. She grew so close to the citizens of Avo that nearly all of them held her as their champion. Despite those positives, she had her flaws. She was stubborn and her curiosity could often get her into trouble, as was the case in Pokol. Also, Jamie Narvineous made the point that she never had the strength to put her enemies to death and would always choose life for everyone as an option. Had she lived past her second birth, she would have been a fair and just ruler for Westward.